<<Print>>

RESIDENTS OF Teshie-Nungua will have to brace themselves for more hard times given the uncertainty that has characterized the construction of the Teshie Bush Road, a project meant to decongest the heavy traffic on the main Teshie-La road. Though Frandesco International Group Limited (FIGL), the firm which was given the job to construct the Teshie Bush Road, has indicated that it would resume construction by the first week of August this year, the Tender Board and the Ministry of Roads and Highways are yet to decide whom the contract would be offered to should Frandesco fail to live up to its word since it had abandoned the work without informing its client for the past seven months. The contractor, who was offered the contract in July 2009, had to stop work in January 2010 due to lack of funds, DAILY GUIDE has learnt. Francis Torsoo, Municipal Roads Engineer of the Ledzokuku-Krowor Municipal Assembly (LEKMA) Department of Urban Roads, who spoke to DAILY GUIDE last week, said the contractor claimed his financiers charged him a whopping 72 percent interest on loans it contracted from them, a situation which caused him to stop work on the project. Residents are complaining about the deplorable state of the road which is aiding armed robbers in their operations. According to Mr. Torsoo, the contractor abandoned the project despite being awarded the GH�16,031,293.14 contract in July 2009. The project was expected to be completed in February 2011. DAILY GUIDE learnt that the contract was not put on tender in order for the contractor to expedite action on it. Asked what the contractor could do to regain the trust of the Tender Board and the Ministry, Mr. Torsoo noted: �He has to prove beyond any reasonable doubt that he is now financially sound to take up the responsibility.� The engineer indicated that the main purpose of constructing the Bush Road was to divert heavy traffic from the Teshie-Nungua main road through Tebibianor, from where vehicles could travel to other destinations with ease. Currently, he said the percentage of paved roads in the municipality stood at 15 percent while that of unpaved roads was 85 percent. �When it became obvious that the contractor had abandoned the site for some time, several letters were written, compelling him to come back to work. �As supervisors, when we realized that he was not paying attention to our numerous letters, we recommended the case to the tender board and the ministry to terminate his contract,� he noted. He explained that the contractor finally replied, pledging that he would start work first week in August. All efforts made by DAILY GUIDE to listen to the contractor�s side of the story proved futile as calls made by the paper went unanswered.